hang10tiki we are fans of your art, both in carving and photo shopping. Dan wants the cast now. Thank you for the Old Faithful geyser vintage post card. I saw that geyser go off so many times. In the cold mornings it looked that huge. You are a sweetheart.

TikiHula are you coming on Saturday or Sunday? Either could be the right day.

LoriLovesTiki and when I read these messages I'm smiling too.

VampiressRN it was really fun. We missed you terribly. I went off my no oil diet and had some hot chips and chicken. That was wonderful.

We buy our jugs of slip in gallon jugs that are only half filled. The slip is always too concentrated to use. By having the jugs half empty I can pour in water to make it just right.

I mix the slip with my hand so that I can tell when it's perfect.

The molds had to dry a long time. We tried it outdoors and

in the kiln shed. Eventually they were ready to use.

I hadn't labeled one yet so I did it now with a carving tool.

Now I have two molds ready to pour into.

While Dan poured I beat the outside with a rubber mallet.

Then Dan did his cleanup chores.

Two hours later it was time

to pour them out

and

turn them upside down.

The next day we opened them for the first time.

It was fun to see that they had turned out.

Leaving the mug in part of the mold held it while I cleaned some of the mold lines off.

I used my scraper tool again to cut part of the top off.

Then I cut the rest of the top off. Always wet your tool as you use it to prevent dragging.

Cut off and viewing it from the top.

The very first two mugs out of the molds.

I checked the mugs and found that one had a tiny part missing. So I carved a piece out of the mold so that it would have it in the rest of the casts. I then added clay to the mug to replace the tiny missing piece.

We went shopping for more slip.

Dan did his happy dance for you.

I got ready to mix in more water.

I decided that the mugs needed more carving on the sides. So I re-do every one of the mugs by hand.

I even re-carve the lettering on the bottoms.

I always do everything I can to make my art look it's best.

Here's a finished Sacramento Crawl mug.

We have been casting two a day when we are home since 2/25/14. Tomorrow will be 3/25/14 and we will pour mugs #49 and #50.

Each of these photos show more mugs on the shelves.

I have been doing these along with the Wish List projects and

the kickstarter project for Tiki Atari.

We live in a tiki decorated house and

we make tikis.

We love our tiki friends. We have good lives that are interesting because we found our niche.
I hope you all stay tiki too.

Wendy, I read your posts and every time I do, I smile big and think what a lovely person you are! You and Dan live in your Tiki house and create mugs and both of you are always smiling. I know you work so hard on your mugs and art to make them perfect for everyone. You make dreams come true for people. You are like a little fairy godmother.

Wendy contrats on a million views, I see you are already well on your way to the next million. I think you should cut the mouth out of a severed head and replace it with a plexiglas window, then you can see the drink inside his mouth Glad to see Mike's bowl survived firing, excited to see how that turns out.
Jon, thanks for the earrings - I think they make me look damned handsome _________________

hang10tiki that's why I don't wear jewelry, it looks so much better on men.

littlegiles I'm working on getting little. 22 pounds off and more to go. I used to be Peter Pans and Caspers friend and sometimes just a good witch. I think I like being like a fairy godmother, thank you.

MaukaHale I hope everyone likes them when the crawl is on.

TikiAno after making the first 20 molds it isn't scary any more. I'm glad when you write here because it reminds me to check your thread. I don't want to miss the coffee reward mugs being glazed.

MadDogMike you even look handsome without the earrings. The bowl will really be something special when glazes and on fire. Mike thought up something really fun.

hang10tiki I sure do like your dressed up images.

TikiHula Tsk Tsk Tsk. Are you coming on Saturday or Sunday or both days?

GROG you should work in a hospital...since you have such a good vocabulary. I think you've taken a step up the evolutionary ladder. Have you discovered the wheel yet you darling caveman?

ebtiki I wish I knew the next line to "put the lime in the coconut and".

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Gsc posted this on my Gallery page and I've moved it here for fun.

Here's my new mug from Wendy! She is soooooo awesome & talented! It's the prize of my mug collection- thank you so much Wendy!!!!!!

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Lesson of the day.

What do you do when the casts are dry? You sand them, fine tune the carving and do the first firing called bisque.
This first firing shrinks the casts so that when you fire on the glaze it doesn't pop off. It's always good to reach the top temperature and then hold it there for another 20 minutes for maximum shrinkage.

I finished off a mug and then Dan would air compressor off the dust and put it in the kiln.

We always wear masks and ear protection. This is a very dusty job.

I'm at the side and Dan is as far away from me as possible.

Hello Kitty Bob joins the Zombies on the bottom. The kitty is for WaikikianMoeKele. The Zombies for Tiki Hula, VampiressRN and the Corona Contessa. The rest are available.

She fit right in. During bisque they can touch. The bottom is loaded so shelves go in for the next layer.

Dan is dusting the Kings Goblet for Tavarua Tiki.

I've done the sculpt, made the cast, re-carved the coconuts surface and now I use a wire brush to add more fine lines.

Time to rest up, there's more work tomorrow. If I don't work I can't take photos, if I don't take photos I can't post on Tiki Central, if I don't post I don't get messages, if I don't get messages I'm sooooooooo sad.